Documentaries and Mother’s Day

Hello everyone and Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there.

This week I’m going to share with you a documentary. 

Some context, every year my wife and I have a Spring Documentary Festival where we watch one documentary a night for a week.

Last Night I watched a documentary called “Sheep Among Wolves”. This documentary is both convicting and motivating. It details the underground church in the middle east and is a calling to the Church as a whole to help. 

I truly think it is essential viewing for Western Christians…

Here is the documentary…

Sheep Among Wolves

I plan on watching Volume 2 on Wednesday. Here is volume 2 for those who would like to watch both…

Also I would like to share a prayer for Mother’s Day…

A Mother’s Day Prayer to Honor and Bless Moms

“Heavenly Father, I speak this prayer to you now in gratitude and praise for the gift of mothers. My mother, those of my friends, relatives, those I’ll never know, all mothers. Thank you for the role they play in the family unit. Thank you for their teachings, their wisdom, their patience, and understanding. Thank you for the physical, emotional, and spiritual gifts they possess. 

I pray that you help mothers all across the world to be a blessing upon their children. Whether delivering affirmation or discipline, I pray that you help every word and action to be done in love. And I pray that children throughout the world would take time to honor their mothers, that you would show them how to uniquely do so.

I pray that these mothers also act as a blessing beyond their households, reaching into their extended families, communities, churches, schools. I pray that the impact of motherhood is revered throughout society and that these women are acknowledged for their everyday impact on the world. May you guide each of them into fulfilling their purpose here on Earth. Amen.”
– Aaron D. Brown

Have a Blessed Week,

Chris 

Sources

FAI Studios…
https://www.youtube.com/@FAISTUDIOS

Mother’s Day Prayers…

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/prayer/beautiful-prayers-for-moms-this-mothers-day.html

What Does It Mean To Love God?

My Pastor asked in his weekly email for us to contemplate this week on what it means to love God. 

I have decided to make that question my weekly post for the blog. 

First let’s unpack what love means. 

Nowadays the term love is so broad. People say they love many things food, places, movies, etc.

When it comes to people they say things like “love is love”. But they don’t define love. 

Love could just mean sex. People say, “make love” all the time in place of the word sex. 

Love could be a selfish form of love. People often do this in relationships, marriages even with children and parents. They love someone because they make themselves happy or they love what the person does for them.  

At best that’s a selfish love, at worst is it not really love at all. 

As Christians we are called to a selfless love. 

A love that means you’re called to serve the ones you love in a way of self-sacrifice, compassion, honor, respect and care. 

And that’s hard for many reasons. To put others first is not only difficult but is the opposite of what the world tells you, the world says to look out for number one and find someone who loves you and makes you happy. 

But God calls us to not just find someone to love but to love everyone. 

Everyone. 

And to do so for their benefit and not ours. 

But it is also hard because we teach a message that often is not easy on the ears for many. 

Again people have misused the word love and made it mean something else. In order to love someone by worldly standards you must do so by accepting everything they do and believe. Now of course that doesn’t go both ways they don’t accept us for what we do and believe but I digress.

But true love means sometimes you have to help those by telling them what they’re doing is not good for them. Whether it be a parent instructing their child or a brother or friend telling someone what they’re doing is destructive.

We Christians also have to tell the world something they don’t want to hear, that faith in Jesus is the only way to salvation. But if we love a person we have to tell them and often that’s not easy. 

These things need to be done out of love. 

And when you love someone who has authority over you, you must listen to them, honor them, respect them, submit to them and serve them. 

And God has authority over all things and if we love Him than we must do those things. 

We must love Him like a Father who instructs us, loves us and provides for us. 

We must love Him like a King who rules over us justly.

We must love Him because He is God who created all things. 

We must love Him because He loved us first and sacrificed for us more than we ever could. 

What does it mean to love God? I don’t even know if I still can fully answer that. But I am going to try to love Him as He loved us. It will be impossible to love like He does but Lord do I want to try. 

God help me love like you do. 

Have a Blessed Week and Remember Love God, Love Others and Lastly Love Yourself.

-Chris 

Acts 7:55-60

I am leading Prayer and Bible Study on Wednesday. I wrote a guide and will be sharing it today as my weekly entry…

Acts 7:55-60 New International Version

⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Questions
-Who was Stephen?
Answer: A man filled with Holy Spirit, faithful, one of 7 responsible for distributing food to widows.
He was also “full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). Acts 7 not only did he give his testimony but also a detailed history of Israel’s relationship with God.

-Reflection: What does it mean to be full of the Holy Spirit? How important is that?

-Stephen said, “Look,”…“I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Why did this make them so angry to the point that they stoned him?

-What does “the Son of Man mean”?
Reference: Daniel 7:13–14 The New International Version
13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Questions and Notes:
A) What does it mean “Like” a son of man?
Answer: “Like” not “a” meaning He resembled a human but was not just a human.

B) Does anyone know the significance of “coming with the clouds?”
Answer: Coming with the clouds: Ancient Middle Eastern symbol for a deity. Also, interesting that Israelites were being lead in Exodus by a Pillar of Cloud by day.

C) What does Ancient of Days mean?
Answer: Term for God

D) Takeaway 1: These two verses from the Old Testament are clearly about the Messiah. Being the fact, Daniel uses deity imagery (coming with the clouds) to describe the one who is “like a son of man” and the fact verse 14 shows that everyone will worship Him we realize that the Messiah is in fact not just a man but also God.
E) Takeaway 2: So, Stephen was not just declaring Jesus was the Messiah but that He was in fact God and that Stephen was seeing Him right then in that moment!

-How powerful is it that Stephen asked Jesus to not hold their sin against them? Why did He do that?
Note: Remember…Luke 23:34 “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they’re doing…'”

-It’s hard to forgive people especially those who do horrible things but when you do that, how freeing is it?

-First appearance of Saul, let’s talk about God’s amazing grace that Saul/Paul a persecutor and murder of Christians would be the man who wrote the majority of the New Testament.

-What does this show about God’s grace to the world and His grace in your own life?

-Final Thoughts?

-Pray

Sources:
https://www.gotquestions.org/life-Stephen.html

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+7%3A55-60&version=NIV

https://www.gotquestions.org/ancient-of-days.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Son-of-Man.html

Go to Church

I hear often people complaining they can’t find the right church.

Now they’re legitimate reasons in a lot of cases. They’re several churches in my city that I wouldn’t attend or fellowship with due to their lack of submission to the Word of God. 

But in other cases people are looking for the church that fits all their needs. They have a list of wants and dislikes going in and out of churches like they’re house hunting.

Others want a church that fits their exact theology. I get that when it comes to the major fundamentals of the faith but refusing to go to church because you can’t find a church that fits your needs or secondary beliefs is foolish and selfish.

They’re people in the world who travel long distances and even risk their lives to go to church. 

And people won’t go to church or they even leave their church over the smallest of things. 

Christians are a family, imagine walking out on your family or not seeing your family over some of reasons people don’t go to church. 

Truth is you’re forsaking the fellowship and in sin if you have the ability to go the church and willfully don’t. 

Your options are go to a local church, travel to a church or plant a church.

None of this “church isn’t a building” bunk. You’re supposed to fellowship with other believers.

You’re supposed to preach the Gospel, serve the poor and those in need. Also you need people to support you and hold you accountable. 

Bottom line is you will have more opportunities to do the will of God when you’re in a church. 

I know churches have problems and a lot are messy. Also church hurt is a huge problem and needs it’s own blog entry but we must fellowship with our Christian family. 

One last thing point I want to make. I heard a saying, “If you’re looking for the perfect church and you find it, don’t go in you will ruin it.”

None of us are perfect that’s why we need Jesus and when we gather, He is there. 

I know the tone of this blog is harsher than usual but there is times for being firm. This is one of them.

I claimed Christ for years and didn’t go to church, my life was filled with sin and selfishness. 

You need church and church needs you. 

Go To Church

-Chris 

Tips On Theology

Dealing with head cold this week so I am reposting a blog from 2021. Hope everyone has a good week. -Chris

The Good Word

Theology and biblical study can be overwhelming. I am the furthest thing from an expert but I do want to share with you some tips on how to form your theological opinions.

Truth is a lot of times we can form opinions on scripture prior to even reading scripture. We hear someone take a position and tell us why that is true in the Bible and that version sounds good so we resist anyone else’s take on scripture because our mind is made up already.

Don’t put any theologian on a pedestal no man has it exactly right, only God has full knowledge. You can be a Lutheran or a Calvinist or a part of any other denomination while disagreeing with the person who started the denomination or the person the denomination is named after. As a matter of fact you should disagree with them on occasion as they’re a…

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Thanksgiving 2022

Hello Everyone.

Here in America Thanksgiving is this Thursday. I’d like to share a few things with you. First a story, then a prayer and a Hymn’s playlist I found.

This story is really about an analogy from a sermon my Pastor preached. Last year we were at a multi church Thanksgiving Eve service, during his time to preach he spoke on a division using an analogy about Thanksgiving dinner. I’d like to share that analogy to the best of my recollection as I think it is useful not just in the body of Christ but in the world as well.

The analogy basically goes like this…

“At Thanksgiving when we all gather at the table with many different side dishes, we all pass around the food. Now when the cranberry sauce comes to me I just pass them along to the next person without taking any. What I don’t do is announce, “cranberry sauce is gross. It totally ruins the flavors of the other food. It makes no sense for the plate. Anyone who puts that on their plate is foolish.”

The most important reason not to do this is that they would send me away from the table. I want to stay at the table with my family.”

What a valuable lesson. Let’s not divide on the secondary stuff, stay true to the chore values and love each in our disagreements over the little things.

Now for the rest of what I am a sharing.

A Prayer:
Thanks for Blessings Past and Present

Lord God, we gather around this table to humbly thank You for all that You have given us this past year – not just what is on this table, but who is sitting around this table. Thank you for life and laughter, for health and happiness, for relationships and memories. Thank you, too, for the lessons learned and the tears we’ve cried because of Your ability to grow us through them. Thank You for Your comfort and Your presence, in light of good days and bad. Thank You for what we have now, for what we had yesterday, and for what You will continue to give tomorrow. Let us never take that for granted, but to always be grateful for every good and perfect gift that comes from You. May we have hearts full of thanksgiving not only today but every day of our lives. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, Amen. – Cindy McMenamin

Source: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/7-thanksgiving-prayers-encouraging-and-inspiring.html

Hymns for Thanksgiving: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqk7PmhxKRBd_YoC5DWgrd9jkLkE9OhPk

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

-Chris

Luke 18:9-14 Bible Study Guide

Hello Everyone,

This Wednesday Night at my church I will be leading a Bible Study on Luke 18:9-14. I wrote a study guide this morning so I would like to share that with you for this week’s entry. Hopefully the questions can help you think about the text in a more in-depth way.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Luke 18:9-14
New International Version
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Questions

-When you read this parable what comes to your mind? What are your first thoughts?

-Let’s compare the two people in this parable. 

-For me there seems to be a common trend of Jesus speaking up against arrogant religious leaders. How can this be a cautionary tale to us as Christians especially in leadership?

-Do you think the pharisee was a bad person or perhaps just misguided?

-Is it possible to become so focused on God’s commandments that we forget God’s grace?

-This may be a tough one. What’s some tips and guides we can all use to stay humble while not sacrificing our integrity?

-Tell me some of your closing thoughts.

-Prayer 

High Standards, Higher Grace

At Men’s Prayer Breakfast on Saturday we planned on discussing Matthew 5-7 but in the end we didn’t even get through Chapter 5 because there is so much to unpack.

One point that was brought up was the difficulty of doing a lot of what Jesus is saying.

During the discussion it came to me, “high standards, higher grace”.

We do have high standards to follow as Christians but the Grace of God far exceeds are failures.

This does not give us a license to sin or ignore God’s commands.

No it should give you hope and more reason to follow God’s commands. Because while God’s standards are high it’s not just His grace that is higher but His love and His mercy.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Matthew Chapter 5:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=NIV

So What Are You Going To Do About It?

My Pastor yesterday preached a great sermon yesterday on Isaiah 1:1,10-20. There is a lot I could unpack as there is a lot that stood out to me but the truth is I want to focus on one part at least for now.

A little note on my Pastor, he likes to stay informed. He listens and reads to all different sides of an issue to understand things. During the sermon he mentioned how people love to call into radio programs and complain, they get very worked up and angry. They complain, vent and complain some more. One particular radio host likes to ask the caller at the end of their rant, “Now what are you going to do about it?”

I don’t know who that radio host is or what they believe but what a great question to ask.

We get upset, angry, grieved about the sins of the world and we are justified in those emotions. There is so much evil, pain and sorrow in the world.

But after thinking about these things lets ask ourselves, “Now what are you going to do about it?”

What we need to do about it is follow Christ and live a self sacrificial life of servitude to God. Spreading the Gospel not just in our words but in our actions. Love people, take care of people, tell them about their savior.

Because the true answer to the question, “Now what are you going to do about it?” is what God wants me to do about it.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Scripture Reading Plan:

Monday – Isaiah 5:1-7

Tuesday – Psalm 82

Wednesday – Hebrews 11:29-12:2 (Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16)

Thursday – Luke 12:49-56

Heritage Baptist Church Service 7-10-22 (Sabbath)

Really good sermon on the sabbath in this video from my Pastor…